


it's only the end of the world

by sllikeht



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Gen, M/M, Teenage Shenanigans, Underage Drug Use, Underage Smoking, idk how to tag stuff without spoiling, lots of swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 17:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15734277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sllikeht/pseuds/sllikeht
Summary: Todd and Amanda have the most boring lives in the world. They miss class, smoke pot and hate everyone. One day, a new kid arrives at the school, and from there, things get weirder and weirder. And they will have to save the world they know and don't know, or at least try it.This is my part for the DGHDA Big Bang <3





	1. a yellow bag

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! This is finally up! After working on it for quite a few months, I can say I'm proud of the outcome. 
> 
> Thanks a lot to @juniper-and-lamplight (on tumblr) for being a great beta and helping me out so much, and don's forget to check Simon's (simonsourcherryscones) artwork! It's fantastic <3 
> 
> Oh and thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!

Todd skipped his way across the hot concrete, past the shiny cars and smelly trash containers. There was a yellow bag in one of them, seemingly new. He opened the back door and a rush of warm, sweaty air filled his already weakened lungs. 

“Shit,” he said quietly. 

The clock marked 12.45. He was already too late for class, so what was the point of going faster? A quick gaze through the halls helped him make sure nobody was walking around, so he took the left way and went to the old gym. It hadn't been used for 10 years, but for some reason, it was still intact. Obviously, it was closed, but he and his sister Amanda always found ways to get into it. Because nobody would ever come in, the old gym was a safe place to smoke and relax after --or before-- a long day.

Todd crossed the path between a hall and the teacher's bathroom, hiding behind a column filled with names and numbers. That was when he saw him. A boy, probably his age, in the middle of the hall. He was a wearing a bright yellow jacket, you could see him from miles. A man suddenly appeared from a room and took the boy by the hand, leading him toward where Todd was hiding. The only way out of there was the bathroom, which was directly connected to the new gym. The only problem: the soccer team was… doing whatever they did in the bathroom after soccer. It was too risky getting inside that hormone-filled place. But then again, that man was no teacher, and he had never seen that kid, so after a few seconds of hesitation, he crossed the hall, trying to look not nervous at all. 

The man looked old, too old to be that boy’s dad. And the boy, well, he didn’t really fit into a school like this. Preppy and pale as a wall, the goths and jocks would kill him. And there was a slight fear on his face. He was fidgeting with a small toy, a peanut with eyes. They looked at each other for a few seconds. There was something… something. But Todd was gone quickly, walking fast through the field. 

He got into the gym after some minutes of fighting with the door lock. A slight smell of marijuana travelled through the space. Rays of light poured over the dusty air-you could almost touch it. Amanda was lying on the ground, covered in smoke. 

“Didn’t know you’d be here,” Todd said as he left the backpack in a corner and sat next to his sister. 

“Yeah, sure, like I’m not here every day.” Amanda laughed and breathed in and out as she passed the blunt. 

“Fair point.” He sucked in and threw circles of smoke, smiling. “Cool trick huh?” 

“Dude, I learnt to do that in sixth grade.” They both laughed lazily and closed their eyes. 

It was like this every day. Not like it mattered anyway. Even though it was their last year of high school, they knew nothing was gonna follow it. No college, no travelling to other schools, no nothing. They would stay in their boring hometown, working in the family business. And they just accepted it. There were no big dreams inside their minds. Perhaps for Amanda, who wanted to become a famous drummer. But then that was it. Todd had come to the conclusion that it was the town itself. The slow life surrounding it, the air, the sky above them. It weighed heavy on their heads, turning them into dreamless creatures. 

“Have you seen that new kid?” Todd asked, looking at the high windows, filled with sticky dust that only let a few rays of light pass through. 

“What new kid?” 

“The one with the yellow jacket.” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She sucked in the last breaths and then hid the rest of the blunt under an old pad. 

“He’s… peculiar, I guess.” 

“Well, then talk to him.” 

“What?”

“Yeah, you love peculiar stuff.” 

“That’s so not true.” 

“You can’t fool me Brotzman, I’ve known you my entire life.” 

“Shut up.” Todd lay down and closed his eyes again. It had never occurred to him to talk to the boy, but then again, it had only been a few minutes. The boy’s face was still ironed on his mind. That jacket was way too bright. “What time is it?” 

Amanda got his phone out, and it shone a bright white light. “Shit,” she cussed, “almost 12.” 

“Amanda?” 

“Yeah?” 

“If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?” 

“Woah, that mary jane hit you harder than I thought.” She laughed and threw the phone to the ground. It landed a few meters away from them. 

“I’m serious!”

“Okay, sure.” She got up and sat next to him, knees to her chest, arms around her legs. “I would change… me.”   
Todd looked at her, surprised. That was unexpected. She had sad eyes, glittering in the smoky semi-darkness. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, I mean, I’m a mess and I--” she stopped and looked at the door. There was a small noise coming from it. The noise of a lock being opened. “Fuck”. 

They got up with a jump and hid behind a wall of dusty pads. Their breaths were too loud, so they got down to try and slow down the adrenaline. They had been going to the gym for so long they didn't even care about getting caught, except that they were smoking marijuana, and it wasn’t that affordable going to jail underage. Finally, after a few minutes of struggles, the door opened, bringing with it a bright ray of light as some shy footsteps crossed it. The door shut silently and the light was gone.   
As Todd moved back a little, trying to hide better, he stepped on something soft. He looked at it slowly, and found a decomposed bird under it. He let out a tiny squeak, and quickly covered his mouth. Amanda tried not to laugh, and Todd was just dying on the spot, both from disgust and embarrassment. The steps from before got closer to them, until someone looked behind the pads, right at them. To their surprise, especially for Todd, it was the kid from before. His eyes were glistening in the dark, and his jacket was bright enough to illuminate the whole room. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were here,” he said, with a perfect British accent. 

“Hey,” Amanda stepped out, shaking the boy’s hand. “I’m Amanda, and this is my brother Todd. You must be the new kid.”

“Yes, I guess I-- I'm new.” 

“Well, you aren’t from here.”

After a few seconds, the kid seemed to get the joke, and laughed softly at it. As he did so, Todd realized he was still crouched down, with bird guts on his shoe. 

“I’m Dirk.” The boy smiled, tiredly.

“So what brings you here, Dirk?” Amanda asked, taking him to a clearer space in the gym. Before this, Dirk could see Todd struggling to get up, so he leaned down next to him. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Todd answered, trying to not look into the boy’s eyes “I stepped on--”

“A dead bird?”

Todd looked at him. He couldn’t decipher what kind of emotions his eyes carried, but they were heavy ones, that he was sure. Dirk smiled a sad smile, as sad as his whole face. Although the darkness was surrounding every inch of them, Todd could see his eyes weren’t just bright --they were wet as if he had been crying. With a shaking hand, the boy helped him get up, and the three of them got out of that dirty spot, onto a better and more breathable space of the gym. 

“So, I don’t see the point of staying here, inside,” said Amanda, as she reached for her and Todd’s backpacks. 

“We could go to the beach,” Todd added. Then they both looked at Dirk, who was crouched behind them, looking aimlessly at the walls. 

“What were you doing here, anyway?” asked Amanda, getting closer to him “As far as I know, nobody is aware that this shit hole exists.” 

“Well, I guess I’m just really good at--” he looked at Todd, and Todd looked back, and that wonder came again like a memory, or like a dream. “I’m good at disappearing.”

“That literally doesn’t answer my question at all.” 

“Hey, Amanda, shut up.” Todd grabbed his backpack and went to the door. “He should come with us.” 

“What? Dude, that’s like, illegal.” 

“Since when did you care about the law?” 

“Since it has to deal with actual real people! Am I the only sane one here?” She found the two boys staring at her, lacking on any kind of feeling. 

“Come on.” Todd got out, and so did Amanda, followed close behind by Dirk.

“Hey, listen,” she whispered to Dirk.“He’s never like this, so don’t get used to it.”

A shy smile grew on Dirk’s lips, and as Todd stared at it from the corner of his eye, he felt like his guts were being punched. There was something so familiar about that boy, but he couldn’t place it at all. The best way to describe it would be an eternal state of deja vu, or a dream too real to be a dream. An alternate reality, another universe. He felt like everything and more, and it was too much. 

As they jumped the fence, a feeling told Todd that things were changing, and hopefully for the best.


	2. birds

The streets were completely empty. Which was strange, knowing how it was 12 on a Wednesday morning. People would usually be in their cars, rushing home to eat, or rushing to work. And even though it was a small town that barely hit a thousand inhabitants, it was still weird. 

Dirk seemed to notice this. This and more. He seemed to look through the walls and see the whole world. He could see through the clouds. Amanda walked beside him, gazing upon his figure from time to time. That was also unusual. Amanda was the kind to never trust anybody unless they did something good for her. And what had Dirk done already, that made her so comfortable? Todd couldn’t figure it out. There were many things he couldn’t figure out. As they walked past the big, vacant streets, cold air hit him. Something was not right. 

“Okay, I need to say it,” he started. “Am I the only one completely weirded out?” 

Dirk and Amanda looked back at him. They had this look --they understood. 

“Yeah, it’s like everyone’s dead,” she said. 

“Isn’t it usually like this?” Dirk asked, slowing down his steps. 

“No, never.” Todd answered “I mean we have the Sunday emptiness and all that but this…”

“It’s the apocalypse,” Amanda whispered to herself, throwing a small rock toward the park next to them. The park. A dry ecosystem. There never seemed to be anyone taking care of it, yet it always looked almost healthy. Almost. 

The three of them stood there, looking to their sides. No one around. 

“Well anyway, let’s go to the beach,” Amanda said, heading south. Dirk looked at Todd, Todd looked back. Just like at the gym, the feeling was there again. He just nodded, and they followed his sister. 

What a strange group they were, Todd thought. Walking through the vast streets of hot concrete. A goth, a punk, and a British boy. If there was something they all had in common was probably the fact that they didn’t know anything at all. 

“Why did you move here, anyway?” Amanda inquired again. She was obviously curious, and Dirk was obviously not willing to answer. Something about his past made him uncomfortable, something completely unknown to them. Dirk just pressed his lips and raised his eyebrows in response. To this, Amanda walked faster, walking meters away from the boys. 

“She’s… stubborn,” Todd said. He smiled at Dirk, and Dirk smiled back.   
Even although the situation was pretty awkward --at this point Todd usually would have given up-- there was some sort of confidence in the air. Dirk felt more like a distant old friend than a complete stranger. And now he wasn’t that much of a stranger. They were going to the beach while skipping classes, which meant a connection would be sealed. At least that’s what the old people said. Beaches are a gate between solid and liquid, but also a gate between the unknown and the familiar. And Todd could sense how their connection was getting closer. 

A few more minutes of silence and they were there. A lonely thin sand beach, with calm waves that bathed the heated ground, and loud seagulls flying over, guarding the place.

Amanda took her combat boots off and in the bat of an eye, she was running towards the water. Although it was still mid-April, the heat was already deep into their bones, and the ocean was warm as could be. They all knew this was climate change, but early heat was always welcome after a hard winter. 

Todd followed his sister, throwing the backpack and his shoes too. They yelled as their feet touched the water, colder than expected. Dirk looked from behind, smiling. It was nice a nice scene. Two outcasts and their British friend, skipping classes and having fun. 

Dirk sat, putting his jacket below him so the pant’s soft fabric wouldn’t get messed up. The water reached up to the sibling’s ankles. They splashed each other, laughing loudly. Except they weren’t loud laughs, exactly. They sounded muted, as if a wall was built between them and the world. Suddenly, a sound disrupted the loud silence that had started to creep around the whole beach. It was high pitched, almost too high to hear. But they did hear it. Todd came where Dirk was sitting, with an interrogation mark for a face. 

“What the hell was that?” Amanda came too, wiping off the water from her arms into her shirt. 

“It sounded like” Todd started, without really knowing how to continue. 

“Like a scream” finished, Dirk, looking at the sky. It was completely white. 

Now the silence was even more noticeable. There were no more seagulls, no more waves, no cars passing from time to time. It was heavy and tiring, pressing against their chests like an anxious thought, or the certainty that something big was about to happen. Either way, Todd started to dry his feet, looking at his watch. 

“This is freaky” Amanda smiled and sat next to Dirk, who was still observing the wide cloudy sky. 

“Yeah, and that’s why we’re going home” Todd had already put his shoes back on, and as he got up and straighten his clothes, he threw Amanda her own.

“Home? You realize it’s like twelve, right?” 

“Yeah? Have a look at this"

Todd pointed at his watch. It marked five pm. Amanda looked at Dirk, and Dirk looked at the ground. 

“It must be broken, I guess” she whispered, following Dirk’s eyes. He was examining the sand. Or maybe something else. 

“It’s not broken. Firstly, it’s new, and second, I checked the time this morning, and it-” a loud thud behind Todd interrupted him. Slowly, he looked back. The first thing he saw was a grey mass, almost indecipherable between the sand and the rocks. Then, a yellow, almost orange beak next to it. Then his mind started to work, and he could finally see what had fallen behind him. 

“Is that a-” Amanda peaked, trying to get a better view. 

“Seagull” Dirk finished, at the same time as Todd. Their eyes locked. Todd’s got watery. Dirk knew this was familiar.

Amanda got up and went to check the bird’s state. It felt stiff and cold, almost humid. It felt dead. 

“Shit. Shit, we have to go. Now” Todd looked at Amanda, his eyes almost begging. She put on her shoes in a blink, and picked Dirk by the arm. He didn’t say a word. 

“You coming?” 

He looked right through her. Right at Todd. 

“I need to tell you something” he walked towards Todd, and right when he was about to get closer, a second seagull fell faster than the other, between them. They all screamed, and ran away from there, faster than they feet would let them. In the beach they left, like gentle water drops, birds fell to their deaths and into the ground. 

“What the hell? What the-” there were no cars on the streets, so it was easy to run without worrying about getting hit by one. 

“Um, so” Dirk continued “so you know I'm not from here" Todd looked at him, curious, but also with a slight fear on his face. Dirk smiled “from America”.

“Right” 

“The birds thing-” 

“Yeah, what's with that?” said Amanda.

“Well, let's say I haven't come here only to study and uh” he swallowed “live” 

They arrived to a garage's door, covered by a big roof, big enough to for the three of them to hide. Todd sat down, trying to catch his breath. Amanda, next to him, checked her pockets, searching desperately for her cigarettes. Dirk just looked outside. Outside. A white world where birds died and time forgot to work the way it should. 

“Have you noticed an acceleration of strangeness in your life as of late?” Dirk whispered, with a smirk starting to appear. Todd remained silent. “Perhaps a series of intense or extraordinary events, which, as of now, seem unconnected, with the exception of each being separately bizarre?” he turned to them, wide eyed.

“We've been through them with you, dumb-dumb” Amanda, who was now lying on the ground, started to smoke, her eyes closed, an image too similar to the one from the gym. 

“It's starting again” 

“What? What's starting?” Todd now looked curious, more than before. Dirk sounded like a madman, but as for now, what he said was the most coherent thing happening. 

“You see, Todd” and for the first time, Dirk seemed happy. He talked with energy, his voice bright, his eyes brighter. His hands moved and the motion inside his body felt like magic to everyone else “I've come here with a mission. A holistic mission”

“Man, dude” Amanda had that soft laugh only caused by some strong tobacco “you gotta stop using weird words” 

“Yeah, what the hell is holistic? And why are you here? What's going on?” 

Dirk opened his mouth, but nothing came out of it, a strong noise altered the silence. A kettle sound like, a scream or a cry. Amanda choked on her smoke and Todd started trembling again. It was not only the strange aura, but the feeling it carried. Heavy and dull, provoking unusual thoughts and a dreadful air. As if they had seen something they shouldn't have, or did something they shouldn't have done. They felt guilty and liminal, they felt they could disappear at any moment, or fall into the sky like the birds from before. 

Dirk stepped out of the roof area, into the cold atmosphere. It was just a glimpse, but he could almost see buildings disappearing into the air. 

“Alright, I'm gonna say this once and then we're gonna run” he helped Todd and Amanda got up, both suffering from shivers and fear “sometimes, things will get weird and strange, the universe forgets how to function and things happen without any sense. Like now, for example” he pointed at the white sky, and the birds on the ground, and the faraway evaporating buildings “we don't exactly know how to stop it yet, but we know how to slow it down and get it back to normal” 

“We?” Todd finally said, his voice merely a thread. 

“I'm in a team, sort of” he smiled to himself “well, it's not exactly a team. It is but it's not, you know? Okay, it's the CIA, but it's technically a team, isn't it?” 

“Yeah, yeah, just continue your story” 

“Okay, well, when this sort of things happens, we have to get in. I've been doing it since I was a little kid, so” suddenly, his voice became darker, like if he remembered something unpleasant, something bad “anyway, what I do is holistic investigation” 

“You're saying that word again. What does it mean, man?” 

“Holistic is- it's like, the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. You see, everything is connected, even the smallest things. It is my job to find the pattern between them” 

“So like” Amanda started, throwing away her consumed cigarette “that means what's happening now it's connected to…?” 

“I have no idea. But that's the fun of it” 

“So you have no idea of how to solve this?” 

“Not exactly, no. I'll just investigate until I find out” Dirk kept on searching for something in that clear sky “and another thing…” he whispered at the end, gazing at Todd. 

“What?” 

“Uh, nothing” 

“What were you going to say?” 

“Nothing. We have to run. Now”

“Run? Why run?” 

A noise came from afar, nothing like all the others from before. This one was loud, real. Like an engine starting, like a roar. A black van filled with strange graffiti and lettering crossed the street and stopped right in front of them. Dirk grabbed Todd by the arm, and he grabbed Amanda, and they run even faster than before. Some strange laughs came from inside the van, a sinister howl shortly after. Then silence, and then screaming. They were only meters away when four boys dressed as punks came out of it, jumping and laughing. One of them, the tallest one, had a nailed bat and started to hit bins and light streets. 

“Prepare to die!” one of them yelled, running towards Dirk. This one let out a squeak and kept on running, still holding onto the siblings. 

“Who are them?!” 

“I-I’ll have to explain that later!” 

Todd let go of Amanda, and instantly Dirk did the same. Dirk wouldn't seem like a quick runner, but in a second he outdistanced the siblings by many meters. On the other hand, the band of punks seemed busier destroying the city than chasing Dirk. 

“Amanda, Amanda!” Todd tried to reach to his sister in a rush, already almost out of breath. She didn't answer, completely focused on escaping “Amanda, we gotta run somewhere else, far away from him” he slightly pointed at Dirk, who was too far to even hear them. 

“And leave him alone?” 

“There's no other choice. Those weirdos are gonna fucking kill us!” 

“I don't think so…” 

“What?” 

A brick flew past them, and they noticed how close the band was. There was a wall close to them, which Dirk was already jumping through, very awkwardly, but efficiently. Two of the punks went right and got lost between the buildings, and the tall and little crazy one kept on smashing cars and throwing their pieces at the store's windows. 

“I mean, they don't seem so-” Amanda stopped dry, followed by Todd, and looked at the big wall in front of them, which Dirk somehow could jump through. The other two boys also stopped, meters away from them, and kept quiet for a moment. In such a rush they didn't even notice how the sky had turned grey with red dark spots over it, and how many birds were on the ground. 

“Shit,” said the tall one, touching one with his bat. It dripped a thick, black liquid from inside. 

“Goo” the small one picked it without even thinking and examined it without any care, like a child would do “Martin this birdie’s gone-gone” 

“Nah, it's fine. Is just the sky playin’ tricks on ya” they stared at the bird, mesmerized by the gruesome view. 

“Okay, let's go now,” said Todd, trying to reach for the top of the wall. 

“You aren't gonna reach it, we gotta go the other way” 

“There's no time!” he tried to whisper, but to no avail, as it came out more like a suffocated scream.

“What if we talk to them?” 

“Why do you keep trying to- Amanda!” she was already gone by the time Todd finished his sentence. 

“Hey guys” the boys looked at her how you would look at something in a museum, with curiosity and a certain fear “how's it going?” they kept quiet, staring in awe. 

“You got something-” Martin, the tall one, started. As if trying to find the words, he grasped at air, closing his eyes “something sinister in you” 

“Sinister?” she chuckled, and lit a cigarette from her pocket. 

“Oh, what's that?” little one got closer to Amanda, inspecting how the fire swallowed the tobacco and the thin smoke coming out from it. 

“It's a cigarette. You've never seen one?” 

“I’ve seen heat” 

A slight glow grew inside the boy’s eyes, a charm. He smiled, and Amanda smiled back. 

“Jesus, this looks like a damn National Geographic episode” Todd muttered, still trying to jump over the wall. 

“Kid, you’re not gonna be able to do that,” said Martin, talking to Todd. 

“What?” but he didn’t answer. Instead, he turned around. 

“Vogel, let’s go. We gotta find Dirk and the others” 

“Can we take her?” he pointed at Amanda, who was blowing bubbles into the hazy air. Martin looked at her, looked around, looked everywhere. 

Todd was still trying to climb the wall, Dirk was lost behind, waiting patiently. The sky turned into a dark blue cloud filled pattern, almost a Van Gogh. White lines moved inside it, alive. And a strange smell of popcorn filled their lungs. 

“I mean,” Martin said “it's the end of the world” Amanda laughed and threw away the cigarette. “Let's go” 

A big thump came from behind the wall. Todd did it.


	3. behind the wall

Behind the wall, everything was different. While on the other side things seemed almost normal, with your typical sky and ground and stuff you see everyday, this side was completely different. On a first note, there was no ground. Todd was standing on something, but he couldn't see what. It's not that it was dark, but that there was literally no ground. Under him, a blue mass, but he wasn't standing on it. Around, only floating trees. He could see the roots with still some dirt on them, just flying in that empty space. In the distance, a yellow spot.   
“Dirk!” he tried moving, and even that seemed impossible. Like being underwater, or in outer space. 

Dirk didn't listen, or at least he didn't seem to. Up until now, Todd didn't realize, but that place, wherever it was, had the exact same noise as the one they heard on the beach. Only this time it was softer, like a hum. Todd moved slowly, as if quicksand was retaining him. He thought that might be how his sister felt when she had the attacks. Probably.

In the blink of an eye, Dirk was suddenly next to him. 

“Hello Todd” 

“Dirk, what the hell!” 

“Seems like we've changed dimensions” 

The weed. It was the weed. It had to be. 

“Well we need to get to ours then” 

“Yes, absolutely” he started moving around, and seemed to have it much easier than Todd “as my assistant, I think you should search for some clues” 

“Your what?” 

“My assistant, of course” 

Dirk continued to fly around, and a tree appeared circling in front of them. It was a normal tree, or so it seemed. When Todd took a closer look, the leaves were dying in slow motion, turning to dust from the bottom to the top. The bark was bleeding a black oil, which disappeared as soon as it fell to the air. 

“I think we never agreed to that” he moved to the tree, and a rotting stench came from it “hey, look at this” 

Dirk moved next to him, and took a magnifying glass out of his back pocket. He whispered something to himself and stood on one of the roots.

“Did you have that on you all the time?” 

“Only sometimes” 

“Be careful not to touch it. It could be dangerous” 

“Yeah, no joke Brotzman” Todd felt strangely offended by this. This joke of a kid was being sassy at him? No way. He had the urge to make a great comeback, but he knew deep down it was impossible. His awkwardness was stronger than any will to be cool, and it was probably the greatest tragedy of them all, cause in his mind he won all the fights. 

“Do you see anything?” 

“Yes, I see” he put the glass back on his pocket, and stood looking at Todd. This made them be way closer than before, almost centimetres away. Todd float back, looking down “I saw ants” 

“Ants?” 

“Running through the goo. It seemed like they were” he paused, searching for the words “dying”

Todd swallowed and breathed into the atmosphere. The rotting smell seemed stronger now, and his stomach started growling. He hadn't eaten all day. 

“We have to go Dirk” 

“We'll have to find a way to do it first” 

“Don't you know? Like, how to get out?” 

“How am I supposed to know?” 

“I don't know, you got us here in the first place!” 

“I got us here? And how did that happened?” 

“You climbed the wall! You climbed the wall and I followed you and my sister-” Amanda. Amanda wasn't there. Amanda had stayed with the weirdos from before. Amanda Amanda. They had to get out of there. 

He swam through the air, reaching towards where they came from. But there was nothing there. Only blue and dying trees all around. 

“Todd!” Dirk was far behind him, his voice merely as thread under the hum that kept on getting louder “Todd look!” 

Todd turned back and he almost went blind. The brightest… hole. Dirk was standing in front of it, a black speck. He kept yelling his name. It took him what it seemed years to arrive, but finally he was there, and his eyes had more less adjusted to the light. 

“I touched the goo and it turned into this" 

“What?” he found himself yelling the word. He didn't mean to. 

“Let's go” 

“But what- what is this? Are you sure we can?”

“Yes! I saw your school inside it” 

“My school?” 

Dirk took his hand and pulled him closer, and the light was even brighter now. 

“I think it's worth a shot, Todd. It's the only thing we've got” 

It was the only thing they had, indeed. But they could wait, maybe this could kill them. They could wait, or they could act. Dirk was right, the school could be seen there. Not only that, but the movement. People. They were running. 

Todd pulled Dirk with him, and they jumped into the light. 

And there was light. 

And there was no sound. 

He felt himself disappear.


	4. ribs

Amanda opened the window and let the wind travel her messy hair. The radio’s volume was so loud she felt her blood pumping to the rhythm. It was only the wind and her, the music and her. 

“You like this beat, girl?” Martin yelled over the sound. 

“Yeah dude! I would totally play this!” 

“Play it like what?” 

“With the drums!” she hit the sides of the seat and the dashboard. 

“You do drums?” Vogel yelled from behind.

“Absolutely!” she laughed and rested her head on the door. As much as she liked this new company, she knew something very wrong was going on. The sky… the sky looked like a goddamn painting. White, blue and red lines crossing each other, dancing in a chaotic motion. They moved fast, slow, and sometimes just as fast as the car did. It was madness. 

“Do you know anything about that?” she asked, pointing to it. 

“About the sky?” said Martin. He turned left and now they were in a small forest surrounded by trees that made it difficult to see anything but darkness.

“It's the end of the world!” yelled Gripps, who was tying Vogel's hair into small buns. 

The end of the world. It wasn't that crazy of an idea. Time felt crispy and electrified, the air barely breathable. Incomprehensible sounds around them, and a mad Van Gogh moving sky above.

Martin stopped the van, and all the boys got out simultaneously. Amanda was too afraid, perhaps. Afraid. That wasn't something she would've thought, but it was the truth. All of this was too freaky. 

A loud thumping came from underground, so loud the insides of the van started creaking. Then a light, right where the boys were standing. And then, silence. Slowly, a strange object started rising from the dirt. It was big, bigger than the trees and anything she had ever seen. As it rose higher, Amanda could identify what it was: a long set of infinite ribs, each of them older and moldier, but still magnificent. Inside them, flowery breathing lungs, bloody and decadent. It kept growing like a plant, and she felt breathless. There was something sick in the way it moved, in how it was a literal skeleton with no apparent end. She wanted to scream her heart out, she wanted to rip off everything that binded here to that plane of existence, and just disappear. Some tears fell from her cheeks, silent, and she thought that was what true sadness felt like.   
Meanwhile, Martin leaded the group, all four forming a triangle in front of the ribs. The faint light that came from inside the ground turned china blue, and they sucked in as if it was air. The bone cage stopped moving, and from it, hundreds of birds came flying. Black and red, they were everywhere, storming to get out of that forest. Amanda closed her eyes, trying to wake up from what it looked like a dream. But seconds later she opened them, only to find out the ribs had disappeared and the boys’ skins were glowing with electrified hues of purple and blue. 

“Light the car, drummer!” Martin shouted, as they started running. A second of dead silence was followed by the loudest of screams. It sounded painful and it stopped your breath. Amanda fought the urge to scream too, and started the engine. The sound came from deep inside the forest, from were there was no light anymore, and no animals and no plants, nothing, but endless darkness and strange creatures with glowing eyes. 

As soon as they were all inside the van, Martin hit the pedal and maneuvered as fast as his bruised hands let him.

“What the hell was that?!” 

“The Big Rib!” Vogel laughed, lightning dancing through his blood. 

“I-” Amanda breathed, looking at how the sky above them wasn’t a spilled canvas anymore, but a normal blue empty sky “I’m never gonna smoke weed ever again” 

Martin sighed, focused on the road. They were arriving to the neighbourhood again. It was just like it always was. The buildings were still there, the ground was still in the ground, but something was different. She felt a strange sort of anxiety, a rush in her heart, like something huge was gonna happen. The end of the world. For the first time, she remembered her brother, and how he had escaped through that wall with Dirk. Dirk Gently. At this point, she wasn’t even sure if he was real. The best case scenario was this all was but a fever dream induced by drugs, and the two of them were sweaty and ill in the old gym. Someone would find them, their parents would ground them, but that was all. A funny teenage experience. But if that wasn’t the case, if all this happening was real, if the world was really ending, then they were hella screwed. 

“Look, girl” Martin started, taking a paper out of his jean’s pocket and handing it to Amanda “we have to go to your school and stop the Armageddon that Dirk Gently has started. You know him right? You gotta help us find him” 

“Wait, what?” she read the small paper, a tiny yellow scrap with a number and a name on it: ‘66794 Gently’. It was clearly rushed handwriting, the last ‘y’ being barely a line “what’s this, I don’t get it” 

“Your friend-o, he opened something he shouldn’t have opened, and now we’re all gonna die if we don’t close it” 

“And you say it was opened at my school?” she laughed, maybe cause of the impossible anxiety filling her lungs “dude that’s crazy” 

The vehicle stopped suddenly, making all the ones inside jump a little from their seats. Amanda opened her eyes, only to see a weird looking person on top of the car hood. They were slouched, all their clothes bloodied, probably because of the big knife they were carrying in one hand. Amanda quickly realized it was a girl. Her eyes seemed to look into her soul. 

“Come on, Ken, we gotta hurry!” she jumped off and started running. Shortly after, a boy followed her, also running, almost out of breath. He was holding a bird. 

Martin pressed the gas pedal the second Ken got out of sight. The speed made them whiplash against their seats. They could already see the school in the distance. 

“Who were those?” 

“Glitches, probably”

“Glitches?” 

“There’s gonna be some weird stuff inside there, drummer” Martin was almost whispering now “don’t trust everything you see” 

Amanda decided, after some seconds of thinking, that she wasn’t gonna answer. Everything was turning into a spiral of weirdness, each weirder than the last one. 

Martin parked next to the trash containers. Inside one of them was a bright, green backpack. Amanda wasn’t sure, but it also had what it seemed like blood stains. They all got out and walked towards the completely open doors. A slight stream of cold air hit their bodies, and it felt supernatural. 

They went inside.


	5. green

“Dirk, wait!” once they jumped through the light portal, they appeared in the boy's bathroom. As soon as they touched the ground, Dirk got up and ran out of there, leaving Todd completely alone. Even though it seemed it was at least 1pm, it was as dark as it could be, and the lights weren't even working. Todd tiptoed his way out of the bathroom. Thankfully, he knew this place, more less, and made it out to the only place that wasn't fully surrounded by darkness: the cafeteria. The fluorescent white lamps were way too bright, and from the window he could see sporadic red flashes. 

“God forsaken place” he heard someone grunting behind the bar. The voice was deep, like an old man. Todd peeked through it and saw the man who was with Dirk at the beginning of the day. He was holding some strange object Todd couldn't identify. The flashes outside seemed to multiply, so Todd backed as silent as he could. That man didn't seem like he wanted to help. 

As he was walking out, he bumped into something. Or something bumped into him. 

“Todd!” it was Dirk. Every effort of Todd went to nothing when Dirk screamed his name. The man jumped out of his hiding place and saw them both. 

“Dirk! What are you doing! Come here!” he yelled. 

“No! I can do this alone” 

“Dirk, come here, I've got the uh” he looked at the object he was holding. Now that Todd took a closer look, it looked like a flashlight “I got the thingy. I found it" 

“The light-tube…” 

“Light-tube?” Todd grinned, which wasn't too appropriate for this kind of situation “wouldn't it be easier to say flashlight?” 

“Give it to me. I'll fix it” 

“I already fixed it. Now come here and let's get this thing done once and for all" he offered his hand. 

Dirk hesitated.

“Okay, what's all this about Dirk? What the hell is happening?” 

“It's all my fault" 

Dirk walked towards the man, taking off his green jacket. Green? It could be the light, but Todd swore it was yellow before. 

“Dirk, your… your jacket” Dirk didn't look his way, he just kept walking. The man then closed his hand into a fist and closed his eyes. 

“Todd” he whispered “run”.

Todd froze. Dirk was still walking, and when he reached the man, he looked back. His face was completely gone. A scream from outside the cafeteria snapped Todd out of it, and he ran as fast as he could towards the entrance of the school. The scream came from there. When he arrived, a young girl, around his age, was laughing maniacally. Next to her, a boy, also around Todd's age, was holding a bird. The girl looked in Todd's direction and smiled. 

“Are you Dirk Gently?”, she said in a raspy voice. 

“No…”, he backed a little. He soon realized things weren't pitch black like before, but everything was bathed in a red haze. 

“Do you know where he could be at?” the boy said. He was the complete opposite of the girl. Shy, quiet, and probably hadn't murdered anyone. 

“I- no. I'm searching for him too” he hesitated “are you his friends? 

“Not really” the boy hid the bird into a small backpack he was carrying “we just need to find him”

He seemed sincere. There was a glow in his eyes, a particular kind of flash. Trustworthy pupils. The girl, on the other hand, was the kind to snap at any moment and hit you with a brick on the head. What a duo. 

“Have you seen a girl with black hair and uh”, Todd tried to create a clear image of her sister. She wasn't someone you could describe with just a few words “shattered clothes, a long fringe” 

“With a bunch of weird guys?” 

“Yeah! Yes” 

“We have. Don't trust them” the girl said, before running towards the cafeteria. 

“Wait, Bart!” the boy went after her. 

Todd was left all alone. The lights flickered, and now the glow was blue. He could see from the windows the outside was much shinier. So he opened the big door and walked out, just like that. The change of light startled him, just like the strange engine noise coming from the front. It was probably the Rowdy Three, or however they were called. He run up there, but to his surprise, there was absolutely nothing. Literally. No cars, no old trees, no fence. It was just a huge valley of green grass. He felt, once again, helpless. What was going on? Nothing made sense, and it was way too crazy to be a drug induced dream. It was bananas. 

“Todd” a voice called for him. Amanda. 

“Amanda?” he yelled, looking all around him, finding nothing. 

“Todd, I'm right here, you idiot” it was like she was right in front of him, but he couldn't see her. 

“I can't… what's going on?” he heard some other voices, the punk boys’ voices. 

“Where's Dirk?” 

“I don't know. I lost him" 

“And where are you?” 

“Where am I?” 

“Yes. Where are you” 

He looked around again. It was the school. A completely empty, weird school, where everything around was grass. 

“The school, I guess"

“What part?” this was a boy, probably the bleach-haired one. His voice was higher than he remembered. 

“The entrance” he heard them whisper again, but couldn't make anything out of it.

“We're in the back” Amanda said. 

“What?” 

“Martin, it's exactly what you said!” Amanda sounded excited, probably talking to the boy. 

“We're gonna do a little experiment here, Todd” he said “we're gonna go to the front of our school, and you're gonna go to the back of your school. When we arrive, we're gonna yell 'Dirk’. We'll probably meet each other again” 

“Wait, why Dirk?” Todd asked. 

“Cause it's what we're all looking for” 

Todd heard them get into the van and go away. There was absolutely no noise. He decided to run. 

Without looking back, he arrived to the cafeteria. It was dimly lit, and there was no movement inside. He ran past it, onto the playground, then the football field, past the bleachers and into the back building, not even glancing at the old gym. The back building. It had perfect lighting, as in every single lamp was on, everything seemed in order, and not apocalyptical. He walked slowly. It was almost funny how everything had happened today. From arriving late to class and smoking pot, his normal daily stuff, to dead birds and other dimensions. And thinking of it, things actually connected. There was one constant, in everything he had encountered. 

“Dirk!” he shouted, once as soon as he passed the back door. 

“Todd?” to his surprise, it was actually Dirk's voice. He was hiding behind a dumpster. And he had a yellow jacket on. 

“Oh Jesus. How long have you been there?” 

“Quite a long time, I think” 

“You think?” Todd leaned next to him. He was sweaty, and had red marks all over his neck. “Is that...?” 

“Bird bites? Yes, they are. They were everywhere! Look at my arms!” he showed him his wrists, with the same marks. 

“Jesus…” they kept quiet for a while, until the thought of Amanda dawned on Todd. 

“Wait, have you seen Amanda? My sister" 

“I know who Amanda is, dummy. And no, I haven't seen her” 

“God, this is like a stupid nightmare” 

“Oh, you should see how it was back at home” he laughed, a sarcastic kind of laugh, a laugh that crawled into Todd's brain, and stayed there, echoing. It stayed because it was familiar, because he had heard it before. Dirk seemed to think something similar, for his eyes darkened. 

“Back at home” Todd repeated. It was there again. That feeling of missing something. Or someone. A turbulence in his mind, a rising in his stomach and to his throat, his lungs closing and not letting air in. It was almost clear. “Dirk I think we have met before”. 

They looked into each other's eyes, searching for answers, for a solution to that storm starting in their memories. A blank. There was a blank in Todd's memory. And probably in Dirk's too. 

“I don't know, it seems crazy” 

“Crazier than this?” Todd motioned to their surroundings. 

“No, but it's still crazy. Like” he smirked, looking up, choking back words he was dying to say “what are the chances?” 

“But do you feel it too? This- this sadness. I feel so weird around you, and I” he couldn't find the words. Talking was hard “I can't stand it!” 

There were tears in Dirk's eyes. He wiped them as fast as they appeared, and put on that smile he always wore. 

“Don't worry about it. Probably a collateral effect of the apocalypse” he got up and cleaned his trousers and jacket, looking bright and smart. 

Todd felt perplexed and even more saddened. This was something he had never felt before. But maybe Dirk was right. If such strange things were happening to his surroundings, maybe his head was getting a little twisted too. He got up too, forgetting about his feelings, and followed Dirk. 

This part was different. The parking lot was still there. The fence, the cigarette butts all over the floor, the trash containers. The trash containers. Todd rushed to the one closer to the entrance, and just like he expected, the yellow backpack was still there. 

“Dirk, is this yours?” he shouted. Dirk was behind him, examining something on the ground. Todd picked it. It had a moldy part underneath, like it had been there for longer than it seemed. Dirk looked up, a fascinated look in his face. 

“I've never seen that in my life" he only glanced at it, and rapidly turned to investigate the ground. Todd threw it back in the container, and went with him. 

“What are you looking at?” 

“Ants” he pointed a small line going into a hole. The line was made of tiny ants, all of them of multiple colors, from red to blue to green. Something unusual about them was they disappeared for a second, and appeared again, a little upfront, or behind. Like a glitch. 

“Dirk, we need to find Amanda. She told me she'd be here. Oh you wouldn't believe what happened, it was so crazy” Todd picked him from the arms and lift him, but he didn't seem too willing. 

“What's the deepest part of this high school?” 

“What? What do you mean?” 

“Like a basement. What's the deepest part, Todd?” 

“I…” he didn't know. Well, he probably knew, but he didn't remembered. There was no basement here. As far as he knew, there was nothing like it here.

“We need to go there and find the thing, the light-tube, and we need to-”

“Wait, did you just said light-tube?” 

“Yeah, the light-tube” 

“I've seen that before" 

“You have?” he sounded completely shocked “Todd why didn't you say so before?” 

“Well, I don't know” 

“Where did you see it?” 

Todd then stopped. He saw it. He saw it with Dirk. But obviously not this Dirk. Had it all been a dream? 

“In the cafeteria” 

“Well then let's go! Hurry hurry!” he ran to the door, and without hesitation opened it and went inside. Todd followed.


	6. runaways

“Come on, Ken! We gotta find those guys before the lights go out!” Bart jumped on top of the counter. They were in the cafeteria, the only place with acceptable lightning. 

 

Ken wasn't tired. He was exhausted. It was a week and two days since he ran away from home. Since Bart appeared. He couldn't say he wasn't grateful, of course not, but all these things happening lately… they weren't what he was expecting. 

When you run away from home, you think nothing's gonna be easy. And it isn't. You think 'well, now it's time to find a job, to live by myself’. You think you'll possibly live on the run, like in the movies. Nothing's gonna be easy, but it sure as hell will be fun. 

This wasn't fun. 

Bart arrived and crushed all those dreamy expectations he had. She arrived and took his whole world, and smashed it into pieces against the wall. 

Of all the things he thought might happen, killing a man wasn't one of them. Not only killing, but making sure nobody found him. 

Bart was an expert. She had worked with this company, or something. She knew exactly what to do. 

It was gruesome. It was bloody, and awful, and nothing like in the movies. It was the killing of a man. Clumsy, filthy and terrible. Ken would never forget his face. Of course, morally it could perhaps be justifiable, as he was another murder. Of children, specifically. But it was a life. And Ken would never forget it. 

Now they were on the run. On the real run. On the 'not get caught by the cops’ run. On the 'hide your face and your voice’ run.

Last night they arrived to this high school. Nothing was normal in this high school. Just by walking into the parking lot, you could feel a strange sort of energy, a vibration that didn't sync with everything else. Bart knew this. That's why they came here. 

“We have a mission to do” she said, opening the presumably closed door. This place, it seemed abandoned, but also so full of life.

“What kind of mission? I hope it doesn't involve…” 

“No, don't worry, it doesn't involve rats. I hope” 

“Right” 

“We need to find a boy, Dirk Gently. He's the one that started all this” 

“All this?” 

“The apocalypse” 

They didn't talk no more. Dirk Gently. He had heard that name before. 

 

Bart was stashing all the snacks she could on both Ken's and her bag. Lights. They'd flicker from time to time. Light. It was something Bart had talked about a lot since they were here. Apparently they could tell you where the energy was 'broken’, and lead you to the place they had to go. They were searching for this sort of tool, he didn't know what it was. Bart didn't seem to know either. 

“We'll know when we find it" 

“And who told you about this mission?” he asked, while laying on a table, eating a snicker. 

“Nobody” she paused to think, to look around. Then she smiled “the universe” 

Ken laughed. She talked a lot about the universe. How things were connected, even if they didn't seem to connect at all. She said the universe would talk to her. Ken thought it was a bit silly, but still respected it anyway.

“And the universe hasn't told you an easier way to fix this?”

“There's never an easier way Ken!” she was now on top of the table, waving her arms “what the universe tells me… it's not easy to decipher. I have to do a lotta thinking to make sense of any of it”.

“Alright, sorry" 

“It's okay, you wouldn't understand” 

She sat next to him, and smiled. They had been a week and two days together on the run, the real run. There was nothing that could separate them. 

 

A noise came from afar, perhaps the building next to them. The sun was setting outside, and its orange hue bathing everything, as if the sky was on fire, and it slowly drowned everything underneath it. 

The noise was almost like a shriek. 

“Maybe it's Dirk Gently” Ken said, picking his backpack and a few more snickers. 

“Or maybe the Man”

“The man? What man?” 

“No, not the man. The Man. He's with Gently, and he's dangerous. Well, potentially dangerous” 

“Then we should be prepared” Bart went behind the counter, finding a strangely big knife. Except it wasn't a knife at all. “Is that a sword?” 

“Come on Ken” 

They ran outside the cafeteria, only to find everything was blue. Everything. 

“We have to search for the darkest part. The lightless part”

Ken doubted. It wasn't gonna be easy. Not the finding part, but getting inside the darkness. If his theory was correct, the fact that it was 'lightless’ meant there was no way light could reach it. So they'd have to search in the dark. Complete dark. It was terrifying. 

He let out a sigh without even realising it. Bart noticed, and tried to gently rub his arm. 

“It's okay boy, we can do this. There's nothing to be afraid of” 

“Okay, let's go”


	7. glitch

Amanda had a great ability to overthink, to overreact and get overwhelmed. Now all these three were melting together, and she was melting down. More precisely, behind the van, behind the school. She was smoking two cigarettes at a time, an almost comical scene. 

“Hey” it was Gripps. He was carrying a pack of beers. “how's it going, girl?” 

Amanda looked up at him. He had a grin on his face, as if he was trying to comfort her with some expression, but didn't know how. 

“It could be better” she sucked the last bit of smoke from the last cigarette, and threw it away. “is that beer what you got?” 

“Oh this?” he sat down, laying the pack next to him “no these are just bombs Cross made” 

Amanda got up in the bat of an eye. 

“Bombs? What do you want bombs for? Are you gonna explode the school?” 

“No, only the Dirk part” 

“The Dirk part?” 

Martin appeared behind Gripps. He picked the pack of supposed beers and went back to the front. 

“I think it's time to go” 

“You think so?” 

They both got up at the same time. The sun was setting, and it all looked so calm and peaceful you would have never guessed what was really going on. 

Amanda went next to Martin, who was looking at the school through some green binoculars. Vogel was right behind him, and Cross and Gripps behind him too. 

“So run me through this plan of yours again? Cause I didn't know about the bombs until now” said Amanda, sitting down. 

“It's very simple. We wait until we see some movement and we throw a bomb. If the movement stops, we storm in and find Dirk Gently and your brother. If it doesn't, it's a glitch, and we have to run” Amanda stayed quiet for a while, trying to process it all. Nothing was moving. In fact, things were strangely quiet. 

“How come you know so much about this?” 

“I've been trained for this. We all have" 

“Trained? As in you are not a punk band that goes around trashing everything?” 

“What?” Vogel laughed, eating some chips from a bag that was not there before. 

“Miss you are a little out of your mind” said Cross, taking some chips from Vogel. 

“No, we are nothing like that” continued Martin, without taking his eyes out of the target “they let us do whatever we want but we also have a mission" 

“A mission? So you knew this was gonna happen?” 

“We didn't knew, but we suspected it" 

“Well, not us” said Gripps “the Boss knew. Then he told us to come here and do our mission” 

Amanda needed time. Usually, on a normal day, there were about three things she had to think about. The rest was chilling and laughing. All of this apocalypse thing was turning her stomach all the way to her head. Too much. It was too much. 

“When did you come here?” 

“Just about this morning” Vogel's mouth was full of chips. The bag just seemed infinite. 

“You know Dirk Gently, right?”

“That reckless boy? Oh absolutely. He's the one that caused all this” for the first time since they were there, Martin took off his binoculars. His eyes were red. But not normal red, acid red, completely red, almost unable to see anything from red. 

“Martin” Amanda backed a little “your eyes” 

“Amanda dear, be careful out there" it was her mother's voice. Her mother's voice was coming from Martin's mouth. She backed more, until she fell to her back. Now all four boys had red eyes, and the bag of chips turned into a small, black gun. She tried to get up, but she was also melting. Quite literally. Her arms turned to wax, very hot wax, followed by her legs and hands.

“Guys! Guys, what's going on! Please stop!” her voice also flickered, like a candle’s dying flame. She was dying too, melting away, the fire inside her consuming itself. The four boys then turned to smoke, and disappeared into the orange sky. “glitches”. 

Amanda remembered. This wasn't real. At least, not the real she was used to. She couldn't move, the wax was already drying in the concrete. But the wax wasn't here. The skin that melted wasn't her. It covered every inch of her body, but it wasn't what she truly was. The fear that was overcoming her every second wasn't what she was made of. 

“Amanda dear, be careful out there" again, her mother's voice. She had to overpower this. 

Amanda closed her eyes. Amanda breathed, and imagined herself in the old gym with Todd, looking at the gaps of sunlight. Amanda had the power to be anything she wanted to be. 

Amanda got up. All the wax disappeared, everything was gone, except for the highschool and the orange sky. 

It was time to end all this.


	8. lightless

“I'm just saying that maybe it's not there anymore” 

“But why wouldn't it be?” Dirk walked fast, his arms moving at the same rhythm as his legs. He looked like a robot, ready to finish his order. 

“I don't know…” Todd knew they were gonna get into trouble, serious trouble, by going there. It was terrible before and it would be now. “what is it for anyway?” 

Dirk glanced at him and smiled. Todd couldn't avoid but to smile too. 

“I guess it's time you know” he stopped, and Todd almost tripped over him. Dirk took something from his pocket, an envelope, and gave it to Todd. 

“What is this?”

“You don't remember at all, do you?” Dirk sat down in the middle of the hallway they were walking through, followed by Todd. The orange and pink light made its way through there, and the warmness of the sun bathed both of the boy's faces. 

“Remember what?” his heart skipped a beat. He opened the envelope, to discover a wrinkly picture of two boys, one of them wearing a yellow jacket. 

Dirk didn't answer. His eyes were a sea of tears, holding inside to not touch his cheeks. 

“You and me” a single tear fell down and dropped in his hand. It looked like gold against the light.

Their eyes met for what seemed years. Those eyes. The familiarity of that smile, the sense of home that had his voice.

“Dirk, I- you-” 

Dirk breathed in. Out. In. Todd breathed in. Out. In. Slow, the memories started to shape in his head. Memories or… visions. They were colors, smells, voices. It was yellow. A laugh. A hug. 

“I should have never let you go, Todd” Dirk got up, wiping away his tears, and continued to walk towards the cafeteria. Todd hurried behind him. 

“But, wait! What do you mean? What is this?” 

“Todd if you want answers we need to reach the cafeteria and find the light-tube. Otherwise” 

“Otherwise what?” 

“Otherwise nothing will be the same anymore. I need it to be the same” he started running now. Todd tried to reach him, but he was too fast. Now that he realized it, the lights in the school weren't functioning. As in there was no strange colorful lights, but the gloom darkness of the twilight. But before he could even reach the cafeteria doors, a hand grabbed him from behind and dragged him through the ground. 

“Dirk! Dirk, help me!” but another hand covered his mouth with a cloth, and everything turned black. His body went numb, and suddenly he was asleep. 

 

Amanda ran through the hallways, not looking back at the birds on the ground or the shadow people in the corners. She had set herself a mission. She needed to find Todd, to find Dirk, to find the other boys and to end the apocalypse. The Amanda from a few hours ago would have thought that was crazy, and she wouldn't make it. But Amanda from now was decided to do anything. Anything at all. Then suddenly, the lights went out and everything was darkness. 

“Aw shit! Not now please” of course, her biggest fear had to be darkness. When she was about to fall to the ground, a hand picked her up and walked with her. It was soft, with long fingers. It felt safe. Inside the dark, every common sense Amanda could have would banish. But now she felt the darkness wasn't even there anymore. She felt alright. Finally, they arrived to a place with a dim light, and she could tell apart the shadows that formed her saviour. 

“Are you okay?” it was a girl, and her eyes could illuminate the whole building.

“I, uh…” Amanda couldn't find the words. Maybe it was the shock, or the girl's soothing voice, but no thoughts came to her head. 

“How did you get inside here? We need to get out” 

“No, no” finally, something to say that wasn't just white noise “I'm looking for my brother" 

“Your brother?” 

“We are gonna stop the apocalypse” 

The girl didn't talk no more. She took Amanda’s hand. 

“What’s your name?” she asked. Amanda’s thoughts were a blur. 

“Amanda”.

“I’m Farah. Let’s find your brother” 

 

 

“I can't believe this is how it's all gonna end” 

“Don't worry Todd, I'm sure we'll find a way out” 

“Yeah, sure, be optimistic, that's what we gotta do right now! Oh, Jesus” 

“Relax. How come you didn't know you had a boiler room in your high school?” 

“Well what do you expect? That I know my high school?” 

“Shut up you dicks!”

“Oh Dirk I hate your green clone so much!" 

Todd tried to get away from the ropes that were binding both his hands and feet, but it was completely impossible. He was starting to sweat, the fear rising from his stomach to his head. Dirk, on the other hand, seemed very calmed. Maybe almost too much. Green Dirk continued to give them hiss back, talking on the phone with some stranger. 

“Green Dirk please, we haven't done anything” Todd cried, pulling his wrists up and down, trying to create some friction “at least I haven't done anything. It was all just a big coincidence!” 

“Oh, coincidences aren't real” said Real Dirk, who was still calm, looking down.

“Todd, don't call me Green Dirk please. I'm as much Dirk as this-” he waved at the other Dirk, who barely looked up, smiling slyly “this”. He went up again to give them his back. 

“Psst” Todd motioned to Dirk, who kept looking at the ground, maybe looking for something “we need to get out of here. Have any ideas?” 

“You know I can hear you right?” 

“Dirk please, tell us at least what you want” 

He turned back, throwing his phone between Todd and Dirk and smashing it on the wall behind. Laughing, he crouched next to them, now seeing each other eye to eye. 

“It's not about what I want” he started “but about what I lost”

“It's okay, whatever it is we can help you!” 

“He just doesn't get it!” he said to Dirk, pointing at Todd. “do you really not remember anything? Anything at all?” 

“Alright what's with all this remembering stuff? What? Did I got amnesia or something? Did you got me amnesia? Am I like, from another universe and I accidentally travelled to this one and lost all my memory?” 

“Ding ding, bitch” Green Dirk laughed and pulled a small gun from behind him. Normal Dirk was crying again. 

“What? What?” Todd felt dizziness all over his body, inside his mind. He pulled his wrists again, not making any change. Green Dirk got up and pointed the gun at him, with the most serious expression. He was saying something, but Todd couldn't hear anything. A ringing in his ears suffocated any other sound. Normal Dirk was yelling, and right before things turned black, he saw a girl and a boy appear from the door. 

 

“So how did you got here?” asked Amanda, trying to keep up Farah's pace. 

“I guess I just stumbled upon it”

“You just stumbled upon a high school and decided to go inside?” Farah looked at her. She seemed honest. 

“I guess it was more complex than that. But it doesn't matter now. The focus point now is your brother” 

“Right" they continued to walk, almost run, through empty and darkened hallways. 

“Where are all the people though” said Farah, looking around.

“I… I don't know. I have no idea. In fact I didn't even ask that question before” 

“How can you not? Your school is empty and you don't ask yourself 'why are not my friends here?’” 

“What friends” Amanda said, in the gloomiest tone. Farah knew not to ask further questions, so they remained silent. The following minutes were awkward walking and gazing into each other, stumbling from time to time with eyes or wondering minds. 

“We're here” Farah opened the metallic doors standing in front of them. No noise came from inside, and it was as dark as could be.

“Are you sure he'll be here?” 

“He has to” 

They wandered inside, only to find a green jacket with blood stains on the ground. The red haze from the boilers illuminated their faces every three seconds, and their shadows grew larger in the small room. A third shadow grew with them, and approached slowly, next to them.

“You're looking for Dirk aren't ya?” the shadow said, and both the girls were startled. In front of the shadow, its owner: a very bruised Dirk Gently. 

“Dirk!” Amanda hugged him, but he did not return the hug. “Have you seen Todd?” 

“I've seen many people in this goddamn building, and yes, this Todd was one of them” he said, taking off the tie he was wearing and cleaning the wounds and the dust. 

“Dirk, what's wrong?” 

“Oh, what's right, dear friend?” 

“Do you know him?” asked Farah, taking the jacket from the ground to examine it. 

“Yes, a little. I met him this morning" 

“This morning?” Dirk asked, taking the jacket from Farah. 

“Yes. Has it been more? Lately I haven't been able to be really understand time” 

“It doesn't matter. You're looking for Todd?” 

“Yes! You seen him, right?”

“Yes. We must find him. See, he's with this fake Dirk, from another dimension I think. We need to stop him”

“A fake Dirk from another dimension? Oh, that's definitely the cherry on top” 

Farah walked up to Dirk, their faces barely centimetres away. She sighed, and got closer to Amanda. 

“I don't think we should trust him” she whispered. Dirk didn't seem to hear what she said. 

“Oh no Farah. He's trustable. Trust me” 

“Well, let's go girls" 

They walked away from the boiler room, leaving behind a note, written by a boy, a desperate and tired boy with a yellow jacket.


	9. dimensions

“Todd, I think you should see this!” Dirk yelled from the living room. Todd got up from bed and closed the book he was reading. He flew down the stairs and sat next to Dirk. 

It was a warm summer, mid July. Dirk was 16 and Todd was 17. California was the chosen state for the year, and the boys did not complain. 

They had met in kindergarten, and were inseparable ever since. 

It was a warm summer the year 2187, so the warmness was maybe not such a good thing. Still, they knew how to make the most of the days, even when they were not so good. They also knew the world was coming to an end, and they had to stick together, especially now. 

“What is that?” Todd asked. 

“I call it light-tube” 

“Wouldn't it be simpler to call it flashlight?” they both laughed. The sun rays projected onto the marble ceiling, and tiny flashes of iridescent light dropped on the boys’ cheeks. It was warm and it was sunny, calm and peaceful. The perfect day. 

“I think light-tube fits better. Do you wanna hear what it's for?” 

“Absolutely”

“You know how I've always been interested in travel, time travel, time travel” 

“Yeah you are like, obsessed with it” 

“Well this functions like a portal for travelling to other universes” 

“Other universes? Isn't that like, impossible?” 

“Not for a mind like mine” he took the artifact. It was the size of a hand. It definitely looked like a flashlight, except it had a crystal on the front and on the back. Now that he took a closer look, Todd thought it looked more like a kaleidoscope. 

“So how do you use it?” 

“Well thanks for asking. First, you press this red button in here. This activates it. It takes all the light from a place in this plane of existence, and sends it to another plane of existence. It sort of opens a portal, so you can, through light, travel to another dimension”. 

“Not to sound like a physics student, but that's crazy. As in, that's impossible” 

“Oh yeah? You wanna try it?” they tried to keep a serious face, but were quickly overcome with laughter. Todd picked the artifact and played with it a little. Meanwhile, Dirk went to the kitchen, looking for something to eat. Suddenly, the front door opened, and Dirk’s step-dad appeared with two bags full of food. 

“Hello Mr. Riggins” Todd greeted, getting up. 

“Hey Todd. Where’s Dirk?”

“He’s in the kitchen I think. Look at this cool thing he made!” he handed him the light-tube. The man looked at it and sighed, leaving it in the coffee table again. 

“What a genius the kid is, right?” Todd agreed, looking at the artifact again “if only he could use that mind for something useful” 

“I think the concept for this one is quite smart. Maybe if it was better built, or better, I don’t know-”

“What’s the concept?” Riggins sat down next to Todd, taking off his shoes. 

“Dimension travel” Dirk shouted, as he arrived from the kitchen. He was holding a plate full of candy. “And it’s not useless dad, this one actually works” 

“Dirk, boy, how does it even work?” 

“Well you press the button and-” 

“Look, I’m going to my office. I’ll take a look at it later. You boys have fun” he left in a second, faster than he arrived. Dirk kept his words inside his mouth. 

“He never listens to any of what I say” Todd took both of his hands and pressed them against his chest, smiling. 

“Well I think this is pretty genius. And if I was a rich scientist, I wouldn’t think twice in spending every dime on it” Dirk laughed at the comment, and hugged his friend tightly. Todd loved these moments. It felt like they were the only ones in the world, the only ones existing. Sometimes he wished it’d be like that. If Dirk’s little invention really worked, he would be sure to take them somewhere far, far away. Somewhere they’d be happy. 

“Thanks Todd, you’re the best” 

“Hey, I say let’s try it. There’s really nothing to lose. If it doesn’t work, we know to work more on it. If it works, we’ll go to whatever place it takes us. And it’ll be great cause it’ll be us both, together”

“That’s… yes, yes!” Dirk smiled the biggest smile, and kissed Todd endlessly on the cheeks. They felt like little boys again, like children discovering something no one else had seen before. And in a way, it kind of was. They picked the light-tube, holding it with both hands, their fingers intertwined. 

“All right Dirk, it’s time” 

“We’ll press the button on three” they looked at each other, and smiled “You start Todd” 

“One”

“Two” 

“Three” 

Nothing happened. The air was the same. The light felt the same. The iridescent flashes hit them from time to time, and the warmth in the room was exactly as before. 

“I guess it doesn’t work” said Todd, taking one hand from it. Dirk dropped his arms to the ground, his head facing the ceiling. A sudden flash of light came from the light-tube, and suddenly everything turned white, then black. For a few seconds, Dirk thought he was dead. But then the light came to its normal state, and Todd was nowhere to be found.


	10. we are golden

“And then we spent the following ten months trying to find you” Dirk sat down in the cafeteria table. Ken handed him a Snickers. 

“That’s crazy” Todd sat next to him, finishing his own Snickers.

“Yes. The worst is that now, from all the dimension jumping, the dimensions are kind of collapsing, hence all the weird stuff going on”

“And how are you gonna stop it?” Bart asked, as she stole some knives from behind the counter.

“We. We are gonna stop it. Essentially, things have to go back to how they were” 

“And who’s that weird maniac Dirk anyway?” Ken sat next to Dirk too. 

“I have no idea. I really don’t. Maybe he’s from this universe and you just haven’t met him” 

“But how come he knew about all this?” 

“He’s probably a glitch” a voice came from the cafeteria doors. Four boys walked in, chains jangling and boots stomping. 

“Oh shit!” Dirk got up, striking a very uneffective fight pose. 

“Don’t worry brother” Martin said, taking his hand “we’re here to help you” 

“Your dad sent us!” Vogel yelled.

“Step-dad” 

“Where is Amanda?” Todd asked. 

“We don’t know. She attacked us and ran away, but we think it was a glitch” 

“A glitch huh?” Dirk took the light-tube out of his pocket “Where’s Riggins?”

“I think I saw him outside” Cross said, going behind the counter next to Bart. She slapped him and he quickly got out. All the boys sat down, talking with each other. Todd went with Dirk. 

“What are we gonna do?” he asked

“We gotta find Riggins”  
“What about my sister? She could be in danger”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get to her. But first comes the people from the other dimension” 

Todd looked at him. He seemed so sure, yet so scared. It was tough, he couldn’t imagine how it must be losing your friend to another world, and then him not remembering you. The urge to hug him invaded his body, but he didn’t follow the instinct. He never followed what his heart told him to do, ending up in bad situations and sad endings. Of course, this situation was different, but he had to keep all those feelings at bay. 

“Let’s get going then”

“What about the others?”

“Maybe it could be just us” he took his hand.

“Maybe it should be” they ran towards the entrance, without looking back. 

 

 

“Where do you think he could be, Dirk?” Amanda asked, walking next to him. Farah was just a few meters behind them, checking their surroundings. 

“In the cafeteria, I’m sure” 

“Then we should go that way” she pointed towards the dark hallway, with a brighter end. “It’s kinda like a shortcut. We go through the entrance hall and then it takes us to the cafeteria” 

Dirk walked fast, silent, focused. This wasn’t like the Dirk she had met in the morning, but maybe the apocalypse changed him, Amanda thought. What was completely different was his jacket, now green. Maybe it was the lack of light, but she swore it wasn’t like that before. 

“Hey Dirk, wasn’t your jacket yellow before?”

 

“Motherfucker…” he threw a quick punch at her, leaving her on the ground. Thankfully, Farah knew how to react to these situations, so she positioned herself on the ground and started punching him, grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the ground. In a moment, she was on top of him.

“Farah, what the hell” Amanda tried to get up. Her nose was bleeding, and her vision went blurry.

“This kid, I don’t think he was that trustable” 

“We need to find Dirk, we need to stop him!” 

“Stop him from what? Dirk do you really know where my brother is?” 

“Amanda?” a voice came from the end of the hallway. 

“Todd?” Amanda ran towards the sound. Todd ran towards the sound. They encountered each other and, without thinking twice, hugged and fell to the ground. 

“Oh my God I’ve been looking for you all day”

“I have too, dude!” they separated, filled with joy. 

“Oh shit, your nose!” 

“Bad ass, eh?” they both laughed, hugging again. 

“Hey Amanda” Dirk said, getting closer to them. 

“Dirk? Oh shit!” she got up and looked at both Dirks, one complaining on the ground, the other confused, next to Todd. “Dirk, you’re the evil Dirk. Todd, he’s evil!” 

“What are you talking about?” Todd glanced behind Amanda, to find this cool girl sitting on top of a bruised Dirk. “It’s Green Dirk” 

“Can you guys stop saying my name, please” said Dirk, walking towards his clone. He crouched next to him. “Glitch” 

“Dirk you have to stop, you can’t go back to how it was” the other said, spitting blood. 

“I know how to end you” 

“Dirk, stop right now” his voice now sounded gutural, almost demonic. His eyes went red, and his skin turned ice blue. Dirk snapped his fingers, and the body disappeared. Farah hit the ground, confused. 

“What did you do?” Todd asked. 

“I snapped my fingers” 

“Yeah but like, what did it do? How did it work?” 

“I have no idea. Let’s keep going”. 

Dirk went up front, followed by Todd, Amanda and Farah. They opened the front doors, to find there an old man, an old tired man, holding a dead bird. He looked at the guys, and smiled.

“Do you have your thing?” he said, walking towards them. 

“It’s here” Dirk got it out his pocket and handed it to Riggins. 

“Let’s find the Rowdy 3 and finish once and for all” 

 

 

“And it all went BOOM, like I don’t know, super crazy shit” Vogel laughed. Amanda hugged him. 

They were sitting on the floor of the cafeteria while Riggins tried to set the time on the light-tube. There barely minutes before everything would be normal again. Todd pinched Dirk on the hand, and they both got up and went far away, where no one would hear them or see them.

“What did you want?” asked Dirk, smiling. 

“I don’t know. I guess to say goodbye, but then I thought I’d have to come with you. I don’t know, I feel so confused”. 

“Then don’t be!” he took his hand, something they were already used to do.

“This was the most fun I’ve ever had, Dirk” he laughed “and the most afraid I’ve been in my life” 

“Yeah, me too. What an experience, right?” they looked into each other’s eyes. There was still something missing. Something he still had to do. Todd took a breath, and pulled Dirk closer to him. He felt the blood boiling inside of him, rushing to his head, coloring his cheeks, shaking up his palms. All his life, he had been surrounded by feelings, his heart and emotion mess, but he had never followed anything of what he felt. Now he was gonna change that. It was time to follow his instincts. He kissed Dirk in the lips, a quick innocent kiss. Their lips touched for only a few seconds, but Todd swore those seconds were the best ones of his life. Dirk smiled after this, and this time he was the one kissing. And this time it wasn’t for a few seconds. When they pulled back, Todd felt his lips pumping, burning. He felt alive. 

“Dirk, where are you, let’s go!” Riggins yelled from afar. The two boys giggled, and went back to where everyone was. 

“Coming!”   
Riggins set the light-tube on top of the counter. He took a chair, and sat next to it. Dirk went up next to him. 

“It’s been a very long, very tiring day, but it’s time to finally say goodbye” said the man “it was great getting to meet some of you, especially Ken. You have a very bright future in the science field, young man” 

“Right” Bart laughed and Ken blushed. 

“Rowdy 3, please come here” the boys got up in line and hugged Amanda one by one. 

“I’m gonna miss you guys so much” 

“Us too, girl!” Vogel threw himself onto Amanda’s arms, a crying mess. She laughed. 

It was Martin’s turn now, and he simply gave her a hand shake. But then he got closer, and whispered into her ear: 

“We’ll see each other again, Amanda” he was dead serious, and Amanda smiled, raising her eyebrows. 

“It’s your turn now, Todd” Riggins said, pushing him next to Amanda. 

“My turn?” 

“Well you are coming with us. I think you should say goodbye to your fake sister. Amanda laughed, and drabbed Todd next to her. 

“I love you Todd, even if I’m not your real sister and this was all just a game of dimensions or whatever” 

“Me too sis. Just so you know, I’d stay, but I don’t wanna break the universe” 

“Yeah, I know” she snorted and kissed him in the cheek. There were a few tears on Todd’s eyes. He walked towards Bart and Ken, who were still sitting on the ground, eating chocolate bars. 

“I’m gonna miss you two too” he told them. Ken looked up and smiled. 

“Yeah whatever” said Bart, chewing on her chocolate bar. 

Farah walked next to Amanda, putting her arm around her shoulders. Todd glanced at her, and tried to say something, but words wouldn’t come to his mouth. 

“Take care, Todd” she said, and winked at him. His face went red, and he decided to just walk next to Dirk, avoiding all eye contact.   
“All right, everyone’s done?” Riggins asked, setting up the machine. He took a crank from his pocket, and sticked it to the light-tube, making a loud metallic noise. He started to twist it, and the sound it made was too loud to hear anything else. 

“Hey Todd!” yelled Dirk into his ear. 

“What?” Todd yelled back. 

Dirk thought about his answer, but in the end he just smiled that smile, and took Todd’s hands. 

The whole room was bathed in white light, so bright everyone had to close their eyes. Then, darkness, and then, normal light. 

Suddenly the room was filled with students, and the clock marked 12.45. Amanda looked around, to find Bart and Ken had disappeared, along with the rest of boys. Everyone she knew was gone, except for Farah. She looked at her, confused. 

“Hey Farah” Amanda said, walking out of the cafeteria “let’s grab lunch” Farah nodded and went with her.

The sun was shining bright. The birds flew high and mighty, and the air travelled through the trees, the houses, the buildings, spreading the almost summer warmth among them. 

The world was coming to and end, and before it could be entirely broken, a group of sad teenagers fixed it.


	11. epilogue

Bart was standing on top of a broken car, in the middle of the desert. She gazed upon the horizon, trying to find some sort of life in there. But the only thing to be found was dirt, dead plants and an open, blue sky. 

“Ken are you sure it’s here?” she jumped to the ground and walked to the back of the car, where Ken was sitting, using an old laptop. 

“Very certain” he typed fast on the keyboard. All the screen showed was white letters in a black background, moving way too fast to read. 

“What if it doesn’t work?” 

“Then I guess we’ll be stranded in the middle of the desert forever” he kept typing, not looking away from the screen. 

Bart walked around, kicking the dirt, picking rocks and throwing them to the sky. She picked another rock, and before she could throw it, it started beeping. She wiped away the dust, to find it was a strange black ball with a red light on it. The light blinked with the sound. Bart walked around, and she walked, it beeped faster and louder. 

“What is that?” Ken asked, annoyed by the noise. 

“It’s like a thing” 

“Like a thing?” 

“Like a ball. I just found it” 

Ken kept typing until he typed no more. The car started growling. 

“It worked!” he yelled. They both jumped with joy around the car “infinite energy car, hell yeah!” 

When they were done jumping and shouting, Ken went next to Bart and picked the black ball. 

“You know what it is?” she asked him, touching the red led. 

“I have no idea, but it’s very annoying” 

“Do you think it’s to find gold?” 

“I don’t think there’s gold in here. Let’s just take it with the rest of the junk you always pick” he got inside the car, in the shotgun seat. 

“Except they are not junk!” Bart went inside too. She looked at the small ball that wouldn’t shut up, and threw it in the back “it’s stuff that can be useful someday” 

“Yeah, whatever you say” Ken laughed and searched for a casette in the box under him “let’s just get out of here” 

“Did you take your laptop” 

“Ah shit, you’re right” he opened the door and went out, searching for it. Bart looked back, at the ball. It suddenly stopped making noise. 

“Uh Ken” she yelled, opening the door “the thing stopped making noise” Bart went to the back, and found the boy on the ground looking at his computer. 

“Check this out” he said, taking her hand and pulling her next to him. 

“What is that?” she pointed at the screen, which showed a small green map. In it, streets were white, and single red dot appeared in one of them. On top of the dot, a name. 

“Remember the strange kid we found in that school, all those months ago?” 

“Dick?” 

“Dirk. Dirk Gently” he tapped the name. “This was his friend” 

“Todd Brotzman” she read “why did this appear here?” 

“I don’t know, but it could have something to do with the ball you found”.

“Really? Oh shit” Ken got up, holding the laptop. He went inside the car, followed by Bart. She picked the ball, completely silent now. “so what does it mean?” 

“Bart look” he pointed at the screen, to a blue dot not that far away from the red one. It had the letters ‘BK’ on it. Bart giggled. 

“Burger King?” 

“Or Bart and Ken” 

“And where’s the ‘and’?”

“I don’t know, I’m not an expert on encrypted maps” 

“Oh sorry, I thought that was like your thing” Ken started hitting Bart, her a laughing mess, when the ball started to beep again, this time with a yellow glow. They stopped, and looked at the map again. Another dot had appeared, this one yellow, and extremely close to the blue dot. Followed by it, a noise that came from afar. A deep noise, like a growl. 

“That’s scary” Ken said, looking at the map. 

“Shit Ken, I think we should go now” 

“Yes, I agree” he closed the laptop and threw it to the back, Bart doing the same with her ball, which kept beeping with yellow light. She turned on the engine and pressed the pedal with all her might, speeding as fast as the car could go and leaving a cloud of dust behind them. 

The growl stopped and turned into a laugh. A boy with a yellow jacket took his suitcase and put it in the back of a black car.

“That was not funny, you could have scared them” said a boy, a dear friend of the other.

“It’s okay Todd, they’ll forget it in a day” he laughed and got inside the car. Todd pressed the pedal and started driving. “Let’s go back, we got what we needed”

“Aye captain” he smiled and pressed a yellow button behind the wheel. The car was the surrounded by light, and with a bright flash, it disappeared into the sky.


End file.
